[PAST EVENT] Shakespeare's 450th birthday celebration

On Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m. the Virginia Shakespeare Festival will celebrate the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare at Phi Beta Kappa Hall with songs, scenes from Twelfth Night and Taming of the Shrew, a sonnet competition and more.

On Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m., the Virginia Shakespeare Festival will celebrate the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare at Phi Beta Kappa Hall with songs, scenes from Twelfth Night and Taming of the Shrew, a sonnet competition, a showing of the short documentary film Why Shakespeare (featuring Tom Hanks, Michael York, Julie Taymor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Martin Sheen to name a just a few) and a musical number from Illyria, the musical of 12th Night and the opening show of the 2014 VSF season.

The performances will be followed by cake and punch in the Dodge Room of PBK, serenaded by tunes from the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, headed by W&M Professor of Music Anne Rasmussen.

We wouldn't want such a momentous event as a 450th Birthday to go unnoticed, commented VSF Artistic Director Christopher Owens, We know it's a few days late but even belated it should be great fun. Our theme is a A Man for All Ages and so we have two short scenes from Hornsby Middle School's recent production of Twelfth Night, our Sonnet competition features high school sonneteers from Jamestown, Lafayette, Warhill, Walsingham, and York School of the Arts, the Taming of the Shrew section is in 18th Century costuming and presented by Beth Wigley and Steve Holloway as they have done it for Colonial Williamsburg in the past, and our own elder statesman Dr. Jerry Bledsoe will round out the sonnet competition with his own favorite of the Bard's. Songs from Michael Fager and Ed Whitacre's rendition of Paper & Quill (from the score of Illyria) round out the proceedings. The event is free of charge and open to the public, with donations to VSF gratefully accepted at the door.

Phi Beta Kappa Hall is located at 601 Jamestown Road on the campus of the College of William and Mary and free parking is available immediately in front of the hall. Doors open at 2:40 p.m. for general admission seating, no reservations are necessary.